Plant Sterols/Stanols: Do they have a Role in Current Cardiovascular Disease Prevention?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-5634.2015.04.01.1Keywords:
Plant sterols, plant stanols, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease.Abstract
Plant sterols/stanols inhibit cholesterol absorption in the gastrointestinal tract. The daily consumption of 2 g/day of plant sterols/stanols decreases low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels by approximately 10%. Plant sterols/stanols also reduce LDL-C levels when co-administered with statins, a fact useful for patients intolerable to high-dose statins. However, no randomized, controlled clinical trials have examined the clinical benefit of daily consumption of plant sterols/stanols. Furthermore, concerns regarding a possible atherogenic effect of plant sterols have been expressed. The use of plant sterols/stanols-enriched foods is a useful adjunct for hypercholesterolemic patients to achieve their LDL-C target, but we need more data to establish if this hypolipidemic effect results to reduced cardiovascular risk.
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